Some city departments have been reorganized to increase economic development, financial planning and team building. The Finance Dept. is now Administrative Services, merging support services with finance, purchasing, data processing, and records management. The Public Works Dept. is now the Maintenance Services Dept, maintaining the city's parks, streets, and water systems.
The Arcadia City Council approved a new showroom for a Suzuki automobile dealership on East Huntington Dr. The showroom will be an addition to the Arcadia Nissan/AMC Jeep/Renault dealership currently at that location.
More than 400 people crammed City Hall and an adjacent outside courtyard Tuesday, as City Council wrestled with ways to slash $2 million from its annual budget.
After presentations by 3 architectural firms Tuesday night, the Arcadia City Council voted 4-1 to ask one of the companies back for further discussion on doing a master plan for the city's proposed civic center project. The proposed center would probably be located on the Huntington Drive median where the city hall and police station are now located. Mayor David Hannah indicated that this could be a long-term project, perhaps lasting as long as 20 years.
City Council is looking at fee increases, proposed elimination of as many as 14 full-time positions and other controversial alternatives to balance the 1996-97 budget.
City Council approved a 12% pay increase for City Clerk June Alford. The raise comes just as city voters are considering changing the city clerk's office from an elected one to an employee position.
Survival-of-the fittest strategies have swept City Hall, where employees fearful of looming budget cuts are waging campaigns against their colleagues and other departments in an effort to protect their jobs.
111 City Hall employees may earn an extra $50-110 a month by walking, bicycling, carpooling, or using public transportation to work. The City Council approved the plan to satisfy South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations requiring worksites to provide incentives to employees who reduce vehicle trips to work.